Preview of the IBM Endicott collection (with photos)

Gallery

Endicott, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Endicott is known as the birthplace of IBM. In the 100 years since the company's conception, its machinery has evolved from a card puncher used in the 1890 census, to the supercomputer Watson that competed and won on Jeopardy.

To celebrate what Endicott has done for IBM and vise versa, the Endicott History & Heritage Center is presenting the IBM Endicott Collection. They gave a sneak peek of the museum to the public on Thursday.

"Every village or town has a historic society to preserve the history of that period," said Ted Warner, President of the Old Village of Union Historical Society. "That's what this is really, so the public will know what will happen in Endicott."

IBM was founded in Endicott in 1911 when three companies joined together to create what would become a multinational technology corporation.

The exhibit holds pieces ranging from the 1890s to the 1980s.

"It's our hope that we can bring it up the current times and relate it to the present so that when school children and so on come in, they can understand that the memory in their cell phone is more than all of these machines combined," said Karen Klecar, executive director of the Endicott History & Heritage Center.

As visitors stroll up and down the aisles they are taken back through time to see what the machines look like and how they operated. Even the raised floor on which each machine sits is designed from the time period of the piece.

"This is a treasure," said Joe Titti, former IBM employee and volunteer at the exhibit. "This is our heritage. All of this equipment and all of this technology that was developed in Endicott. (This) was the start of the computer industry."

A grand opening for the exhibit will take place sometime in October, an official date has not yet been set.